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Building the Thirteen Colonies/Transcript
Transcript An animation shows a quaint forest with a path to a small village. Two wooden signs say "Welcome to Smithtown Village" and "Prepare to enter the 17th century!" In the village, the animation shows that Moby is imprisoned: his head and both of his hands are each locked into a hole on a wooden post. On the ground in front of Moby lies an ear of corn with a bite taken out. A man dressed in a colonial outfit walks by, and a colonial boy plays with a rolling hoop. Tim walks up to Moby. TIM: Well, now you've done it. MOBY: Beep? An animation shows Tim holding a pamphlet titled "Village Rules." He reads from the pamphlet. TIM: It says right here: "no skipping through town on Sunday whilst eating an ear of corn." These reenactors take their blue laws seriously! Moby hands Tim a letter. Tim reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Why did England make 13 American colonies? Wouldn’t it have been simpler to just make one big one? From, Marlana. TIM: Huh, good question. Maybe England would have done that if they'd thought of it from the beginning. An animation shows a map of the United States eastern coast. The 13 colonies are shaded in as one big area with the British flag over it. TIM: But the 13 colonies weren’t set up based on some well-organized master plan. The only real plan England had was to get rich and powerful. An animation shows the map with each of the individual colonies shaded in. King James appears next to the map. He rubs his hands together as his eyes turn into golden money signs. TIM: A popular British play at the time described Virginia as a paradise coated in gold: Streets were filled with it; toilets were made of it; prisoners were even bound with golden rope! An animation shows an entire town glittering with gold as soft music plays. TIM: Of course, the play’s authors had never been to Virginia. But Europe was obsessed with stories about riches in the so-called New World. An animation shows Christopher Columbus at sea. MOBY: Beep? TIM: It started with Christopher Columbus bringing back news of the Americas in 1493. An animation shows Christopher Columbus in a black t-shirt. He is on a red stage giving a "TAD" talk. A projection behind him shows a colonial ship headed toward North and South America, which is labeled "New World." TIM: Then the race was on to snatch up all that land. All of Europe's powers wanted in. An animation shows that everyone in the audience listening to Christopher Columbus talk is either a kind or a queen. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain are in the front row, holding hands. TIM: Spain had a head start, since Columbus was working for them. In the 1500s, they grew fabulously wealthy on gold and other resources from South America. An animation shows a map with Spain and its colonies highlighted in red. TIM: Portugal was close behind, making a fortune growing sugarcane in Brazil. An animation labels Portugal on the map with a flag. The animation labels Brazil with a cane of sugar. TIM: Setting up colonies to get rich was part of a system called mercantilism. Governments tried to accumulate as much wealth as possible through trade. For Spain, that meant importing lots of gold and silver mined in the colonies. An animation shows a map. There are ships carrying gold and silver from the Americas to Spain. TIM: For other countries, it meant shipping raw materials from the colonies to the motherland… An animation shows ships travel from South America on the map to Portugal. The ships carry sugarcane. TIM: Turning them into finished goods... An animation shows the sugarcane turns into a pile of sugar, which then turns into a jar of jam. TIM: And then exporting those goods for sale to the colonies and other nations. An animation shows the jam in other countries in Europe. TIM: By the early 1600s, England was ready to get in on all this colonizing action. South and Central America had already been claimed by then. So, King James I fixed his eye on America’s East Coast. An animation shows King James looking at a map of the world. Most of South America is shaded in red from already being occupied by Spain. King James points to Virginia on the map. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Well, no, people already lived there—and had for thousands of years. The native peoples of North America had their own civilizations and cultures. But that didn’t stop England from laying claim to the land. An animation shows a British flagpole raised in a village of native people. They stand around the flag, looking up at it. TIM: In 1606, the King issued a charter to set up a colony in Virginia. It granted a private company the right to settle the land. An animation shows the charter, which looks like an old document on parchment. The charter is framed and hung on a wall with the words "Virginia Company of London" painted above it. TIM: The company then rented it out to English citizens to go live there. An animation shows a long line of men dressed in colonial attire. TIM: In return for the charter, the colony would send home a portion of its valuable resources—like gold! An animation shows the colonists dreaming of Jamestown as the town with golden streets and buildings described earlier. TIM: But as it turned out, there was no gold in Virginia. The animation changes to show the colonists standing in the rain and looking sad in front of the real Jamestown. A goat joins them. TIM: Lucky for them, the new colony soon hit on another big moneymaker: Tobacco. An animation shows John Rolfe leaping in front of the colonists. He holds a tobacco leaf in each hand. MOBY: Beep! TIM: Yeah, King James thought smoking was a nasty habit, too. But he didn't seem to mind all the money it made him. In the coming decades, a bunch more charters were issued for new colonies. An animation shows the eastern coast of North America. TIM: Southern Colonies like Virginia were based around farming. Besides tobacco, they planted rice, indigo, and cotton—cash crops, grown for profit. And since they didn’t pay the workforce, those profits were huge. The animation of the map highlights Southern Colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. The animation zooms in on the area and people are shown working on a plantation. MOBY: Beep? TIM: The whole system was built on slavery. People from West Africa were kidnapped, sold into slavery, and shipped to the colonies. An animation shows the dark cargo area of an old sailing ship. Kidnapped people are packed tightly into the space, some of them huddled into a ball. TIM: Their journey to America was one leg in the Triangular Trade. In the next leg, crops and other raw materials from the colonies were shipped back to England. There, they were manufactured into goods, and shipped to Africa to be traded for more slaves. An animation shows a map with a ship making the triangular journey from Africa to the Southern Colonies, from the colonies to England, and then from England back to Africa. TIM: But it wasn't only the Southern Colonies involved in the slave trade. Colonies to the north began exporting rum to Africa, trading it for enslaved people. They were brought to the Caribbean islands and forced to work on sugar plantations. Then the sugar was sent back to the colonies to be made into more rum. The animation of the map shows a ship making another triangular journey: from the Northern Colonies to Africa, from Africa to the Caribbean islands south of North America, then from the Caribbean islands up to the Northern Colonies. TIM: Cutting England out of the deal like that was sort of against the rules of mercantilism. But the crown was making too much money on other colonial business to care. An animation shows a British king sitting at his desk, studying the map and looking annoyed. Then the doorbell rings, and he returns with a big armful of gold. He looks happy again. TIM: The Middle Colonies sent grain and corn, plus livestock and iron ore. An animation shows a map of the 13 Colonies with modern-day Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware highlighted. Ships leave the coast with each of the items Tim describes. TIM: While New England Colonies sent fish, lumber, and whale oil, for lighting lamps. They also built the ships to transport all of these goods. An animation shows a map of the 13 Colonies with modern-day Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine highlighted. Ships leave the coast with each of the items Tim describes. TIM: With England getting so rich on these imports, it didn't mind that the colonies were making a little money on the side. Plus, the English were kinda busy fighting wars: with France, with Spain, and even with themselves! An animation shows five muscular men standing around the edges of a wrestling ring. They are wearing powdered wigs and each of their uniforms has a different country's flag on it: England, Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy. In the middle of the ring is a treasure chest filled with gold and jewels. The men leap at each other and a cloud of dust forms as they wrestle. TIM: So the colonies got used to doing their own thing, and governing themselves. Each one elected a legislature, modeled on England’s parliament. They debated current issues and passed laws about daily life. An animation shows a state house with a group of colonial men inside. One man is standing on a raised platform and reading from a scroll. Other men are listening and some raise their hands when the speaker is finished. TIM:But their independence didn’t last. TIM: Eventually life calmed down in England, and King Charles II took over. He figured he could squeeze a lot more cash out of the colonies. So he passed the Navigation Acts, a series of laws forcing the colonies to trade only with England. An animation shows King Charles II kick open the door of the assembly hall. He unrolls a scroll of paper and starts reading it aloud. One side of the scroll says "New Rules!" TIM: Which Massachusetts basically ignored. An animation shows a legislator slam the door on King Charles II. TIM: In response, Charles canceled their charter, taking away their right to self-govern. MOBY: Beep? TIM: The next king, James II, cracked down even more: He took away the charters of all northern and most middle colonies, and closed their legislatures. They were streamlined into a single colony: The Dominion of New England. An animation shows a map in which the Northern and Middle Colonies lose the borders between them and are highlighted in one big section. TIM: Having just one colony was much easier for the crown to control. Royal troops were brought in to enforce British law. An animation shows British ships approaching the Dominion of New England. Once they arrive, British redcoat soldiers hop out of the ship. TIM: And all churches were forced to hold Church of England services. This was a major problem in northern colonies like Massachusetts. An animation shows a minister walk up to a colonial church and put up a sign that says "Under New Management." A group of Puritans watch, looking upset. TIM: The Puritans who founded these places left England because they didn't like its Church. Now the Church was invading the society they’d set up. The colonists were furious, and ready to revolt! An animation shows the minister running as a mob of angry Puritans chase him. They are carrying everyday items, such as a spatula and hammer, ready to fight. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Actually, this was almost a century before the Revolutionary War. But it did give the colonies a taste of standing up to the motherland. The old colonial governments were restored, and the crown backed down. An animation shows the angry mob of colonists on the map, chasing all the British soldiers back onto their ships. The ships sail away. A colonial hand raises a fist in victory. TIM: After this, England went back to the policy of salutary neglect. It left the colonies alone, assuming they’d thrive without much supervision. And that's just what they did—their economies boomed, and populations soared. They were still loyal to England, but they got to run things pretty much on their own. England benefited too, saving the money they’d spent to keep the colonies in line. An animation shows a split-screen of a map of the colonies on one side, and the British flag on the other. On the map of the colonies, icons of resources like lumber, cows, and tobacco multiply. Icons of people also multiply. The British flag is shown with a pile of gold in front of it. TIM: This situation worked pretty well for both sides… for about 75 years. Around then, France and England began fighting over lands out west. An animation shows a partial map of North America, with French territory highlighted in blue and English territory highlighted in red. Explosions happen along the border of the two territories. TIM: At which point England became very hands-on. It sent in an army to defend the colonies’ land rights in the French and Indian War. An animation shows British redcoat soldiers marching from the coastline to the border between French and English land. TIM: England would win that war, but only after spending an enormous amount of money. To pay for the victory, it seemed only fair to tax the colonies, and tax them hard. An animation shows a British redcoat soldier pulling out his pockets and finding that they're empty. Then he gets an idea and tacks up an announcement that says "More taxes!" Someone throws a tomato at his face. TIM: And so began the buildup to the American Revolution. An animation shows a colonial reenactor free Moby from the wooden post. TIM: Well, there you go, you're a free robot. I hope you've learned a valuable lesson about— MOBY: Beep! An animation shows Moby picking up his ear of corn from the ground, eating several rows of corn, then skipping away. An elderly woman in colonial dress shakes her fist at him. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts